Ghosts in the attic
by gov the scoffer
Summary: A troubled soul...A tortured mind... This is the untold story of the fifth turtle. When Vincent is suspected for the attempted murder of his little brother , Mikey ,Splinter sends Vinny away to Japan where things just go from bad to worse ,when he is falsely blamed for a terrible deed. Running for his life ,Vinny meets a blind seer who sends him on a quest for redemption
1. Chapter 1

When I found Vincent's egg in the sewer tunnels... it was cracked and I did not think that it would hatch ...but than later that night it did .

I knew from the very beginning that something was wrong. He was not like the others ...his development was slower .I realized that he would have challenges ahead .I realized that the burden of his training would be something that I would have to deal with for the rest of my life ...but that would not make me love him any less ...it would only make me love him more.I never told his brothers that he was different than them .I could not bear the thought of sending him away ...the guilt of sending him away. Whatever the failings I counted them as my own failings... whatever the hardships I counted them as my own hardships. I was determined to save him...even if it ment saving him from himself ...perhaps I tried to hard...I only have myself to blame ...on that day ...on that fateful black day ...the demons that haunted him finally came out ...on the awful day of the magic box...


	2. Chapter 2

It had been a long hot day...we had been out exploring the sewer and we came to a place where cool water was spraying down a grate from the street above...a fire hydrant must have burst ...we could hear the voices of the human children laughing and screaming as they played ...we decided to stop and chill here for a while.

Raph sat down on a piece of cement a few feet away from the grid of rushing water and after searching for something for me to site on I found a half tire floating in the sewage and I dragged it up bedsides Raph ." Lucky us this grid was up there ,those human kids would have had all this cool water for themselves. "

" Yea lucky us".I said.

Just than some pennys washed down from the grids overhead and Raph dove down into the water to find them while I recovered the last one that had lodged itself under my sandal .Raph resurfaced . " You know I always wanted to see if the subway would flatten them out if you laid these coins on the tracks ?" Raph said.

" The subways not far from here let's go find out."Raph kicked the half tire that I had been sitting on off into the sewer water ." bet you can't balance on it."

"You dare me ?"

"Yea I dare you!"

I leapt on to it and the tire rolled flipping me head first into the raw sewage.

"Yea I thoght so!"

" You couldn't have done it either ."

"could to."

" than do it ."

"not to change the subject but did you see yourself ? your bandanna is green."

"well so is yours ." I said

"but at least its not the coller of a mouldy cheese head !"

"what did you just call me ?do you want to see how hard I can punch?"

"Yea bring it on!"

I punched Raph in the plastron but all I got was a hurt hand

" What ? Shell's to thick for you?"

I pushed past him " yea whatever man, we going or what ?"

we started walking

" You know I always hated Lincoln ."

" Why ?" I asked

Raph held up a coin for me to see

"he looks like the devil .All he needs is a pitchfork, he's got the rest."

" yea I guess he dose look kind of like the devil ." I said

Raph kicked a can to me ,I sent it rolling and we chased after it playing kick the can down the sewer tunnels.

"Lame brain!"

"Dork!"

"Sloff you man!"

Just then something orange caught my eye,it Mikey...


	3. Chapter 3

"Why did you stop?you let the can roll away!"

"Oh crap its mikey...he's such a pain...why can t he just leave us alone?"

"You get did of him,ill go put the penny's on the track..dont take all night..."Raph headed off towards the abandoned subway station leaving me to deal with our anoying little brother...

"Go home mikey ,your to young to come with me and Raph..."

"But Leo's out training ,and donny never wants to play,i want to go with you guys!"

"Mikey I've got to go put penny's on the tracks..."

"But what do I do if I can't come?"

"Can't you play by yourself?"

"There is nothing to play with!"

I looked around the tunnels for something to distract mikey with...I spotted a big fedex box...i brushed away the cobwebs and drug it over to my brother..."you see this box ,this is a magic box,of you hide in there no one can find you!nothing can hurt you,or see you,you will be invisible..."

Money crawled into the box and I could hear him gigling ...it had worked...

I headed over to the tracks where Raph was aranging the coins..."so did you lose the little squirt?"he asked

I nodded"yea,he won t be bothering is anymore..."

We waited and waited but finaly gave up on the subway...we left the coins on the tracks,to recover the next day...

Leos pov

 _I was standing on a high pipe ,consintrating on my balance...when suddenly my sences told me something was wrong...someone close to me was in danger...I leapt to the ground and began to run...the strange foreboding was all around me...it grew stronger and stronger ...the tunnel ended and I was standing in front of the tracks...the ground Beneith my feet was shaking violently ...and as the lights lit up the tunnels I saw that something was on the tracks,a box , and I could see something moving inside it... I stared in horror as Mike's head and shoulders peered out around the side of it,and was framed by the bright lights of the subway train..._

 _"MIKE!NO"_


	4. Chapter 4

I leapt down off of the platform ...running over to mikey ,I pulled him out of the box and threw myself over him,sheilding him with my body,as the subway rushed over us...I called out in prayer for God to save us ,and as the last of the train cars passed over I carried mikey to safety...agenst all odds both of us had escaped unharmed...I sat mikey down once we had reached the safety of the sewer tunnels...he was crying,and had wet himself...other then that he was alright...'don't tell sensei...''he wimpered,''its ok lil bro...''I told him,''everyone wets themselves,but no one has to know,mikey you need to calm down, and tell me what happened,why did you put the box on the tracks?''mikey rubbed his eyes and tried to stop crying...''I don't know I cant remember...''I looked at him''mikey think ,did someone tell you to put the box on the tracks?''mikey stared up at me,''Vincent said my box was magic,and that nothing would hurt me...''I was feurious ,that freak!that screwed up freak!tried to kill mikey!''leo can we go home now,im scared ..''


	5. Chapter 5

I and Raphael chased each other through the sewer tunnels playing tag. Raph was it and he was hot on my shell. As we reached the door way to the layer that marked as base I made a dash for it and waited there triumphantly.

"Beat you Raph you slow poke ."" you lame brain ." Raph swung open the door and we ran into the living room where Donnatello was playing chess with Father."where you guys we had lunch like an hour ago ? You guys are seriously late ." He didn't wait for us to answer "Splinter beat me 9 times I just can't understand it ,I beat the computer at extream difficulty level 142 times already but no matter how I move my players he always gets me in check mate...I can't understand it ,hey where's mikey,?"

" what he's not with you? " Raph turned to me,"well?"

"Well what?"

"You were the last to see him!"

"I don't know where he is,"

"Didn't you send him home?"

"You didn't tell me to send him home,you just said get rid of him!."

"I ment send him home." "You two arguing about it won't help have to go find him." " why me?" " because you lost him" " and whers Leonardo ?I thought he was the one who was supposed to be watching him?" just than the front door opend and Mikey walked in followed by Leo . Mikey's eyes were red and puffy from crying and his dirty face was streaked with tears . Little trouble maker must have wandered off and got scared. "Splinter ,I found him in the subway in a box on the tracks," Leonardo said


	6. Chapter 6

"There is only one question that is important ,only one answer that is important, Mikey who told you to put the box on the tracks?" Mikey rubbed his eyes " I don't know I can't remember ." he whimpered "I know damn well who told him to put the box on the tracks ,it was Vinny!"Leo was up in my face and pointed his finger in my chest." You bastard ,you sick screwed up bastard ,you told him that the box was magic and that if he put it on the tracks and crawled inside that the train couldn't hurt him ,you tried to kill him ,you always hated him, you wanted him dead ." " Remember Sensei , remember what happend to the sick rat that he found in the drainage pipe ?" I and Raph had Ben out exploring when I found the sick rat .I had only wanted to see if it would float if I put the rat on a piece of cardboard and set it adrift in the sewer water ,but I ended up drowning it instead .That had troubled me for day's ,but it was just a rat,I loved Mikey I would never have het him , and if he was foolish enough to put the box on the tracks ,than that wasn't my fault ."You told him what!" Raph came to stand protectively behind Leonardo " no one trys to her our little brother and gets away with it !" That traitor! Raph was my best friend, my best bro ,how could he just tern on me like that ? I swept Leo's hand out of my face and he shoved me up against the wall ." You screwed up freak ! you tried to kill him!"

"Vincent,is this true?"

"Believe what you want..."

There was a long silence ...fathers eyes passed from me to Leo and back again...

"Im sorry vinny..."


	7. Chapter 7

Splinter was silent all the way to the docks...the side of his face was tense and strained ...like he had some inner wound...it frightened Vincent...he had never seen his father look like that before..

"My brother Sun wu will meet you on the other side..."

He kissed him on the cheek and Vincent walked along the side of the ship and watched Splinter walk away. He stared until even the space where Splinter had been was to dark to see. His eyes clung to it .It was the last Fermi layer thing that he would ever see .A cold wind blew from the sea and the sky looked stormy. He would have to hide somewhere until he reached Tokyo, but Vincent was loathe to leave the deck .He climbed into a dinghy curled himself up in a ball and cried until there was no more tears to cry.


	8. Chapter 8

**notice to all readers :I do not own tmnt but i do own exclusive rights to the character Vincent van Gogh .all related titles logos and use of said character are forbidden by everyone !reproduction or usage of character Vincent may not be used without written permission by gov the scoffer...Vincent is copyrighted... Don't mess with me...I am a law student!**

 **Now back to story...**

 **My heart pounded beneath my chest ,my throat closed off and it hert to breath." Father ! Can't you feel my pain? How could you send me so far away ?Don't you care about me ?Can't you feel my yearning to be with you ?I laid awake at night and sweated under the sheets and cry and scream into the pillow " How can you not feel my pain across the sea ? How could you abandon me this way? How can you not love me ? Can you just tern love off? Was it real love? How can you not want to see me as much as I want to be with you? How can any one hert somebody like this? You start out feeling panicked and hert and eviserated and latter you harden ,you tern bitter,you want to show how much you don't care ,how you care nothing ,nothing would be a room full of something compared to how much you don't care ,you harden into a house of steel...yet still ,in a room somewhere in the steel house there is a little child crying inside the emptiness for his father.**


	9. Chapter 9

I walked through the sreet down by the sea coast and than went down into the forrest to paint. Our city was built on the edge of the ocean and the air always smelled of salt water. It was early dawn and the sunlight flashed down though the bare patches of the Forrest's canopy .The air was I walked deeper into the under brush I came to a secret pathway of upright stones that I had set up as markers leading down in a trail which led to the ruins of an ancient fallen temple which had many rooms and many big statues and carvings that I would sketch. It was a nice place to paint and a nice place where I could get away from everyone. There was a sinkhole at the center of the stone structure which must have been the case of its demise. There was also a spring of deep clear fresh water where I swam in the hot summer .I had often dived down to see the end of the underwater passageway and to retrieve the artefacts from the very bottom but I could never go down that deep and for all I knew it could drop down for a mile.I had found many odd things in the well , little stone statues ,shells ,pottery ,live coy fish knives ,a flute a sword, once I even found a human skull .I suspected that this had once Ben a sacrificial chamber where these artefacts were left or thrown into the well.

I had lined the temple walls from end to end with the strange collection of items that I had found here...I had even brought down some wind chimes and hung them around and some bells...I found that it kept the spirits that followed me from entering the ruins...only the birds and an acational monkey came here...I pushed my way through the thick jungle to where the wall opened...

Drenched with sweat from the long hike I straightened myself up and played my canvas and paints agents the stone wall...it was harder to get through the forrest than one would expect,which was why this place stayed so well hidden ...from outside the temples ten foot wall was just a mossy vine covered hill ,half hidden in trees and only found to be part of a man made structure from close examination and the worn away niches in between the blocks...

I followed the stone steps up the curving wall that encircled the temple and sat on the top...

From hereI could see everything...the sun was a misty yellow and the sky was clear...the wind blew softly and I closed my eyes and felt the warmth of the sun against my shoulders...

I could hear the wind chimes and bells ringing along with the faint rustling of the trees below...their leaves brushed against my ankles as I stood on the edge of the wall...I felt like I was standing in a rippling sea of green...this temple was the only place where everything was calm and tranquil...where I could rest from all the madness...here I actually felt normal...


	10. Chapter 10

carrying my box of paints and the canvas under my arm ,I walked up through the forrest serching for the right place to paint. I was listening to the rustling sounds of the wind blowing through the woods and thinking about the water lotus festival that I was going to go to latter that night ,and I stoped and lend up against the side of a tree and as I did, I felt something poking me in my shoulder and turning to see what it was ,I realized that there was something odd sticking out of the trunk of the tree... first I thought that it must have been some kind of lichen or burel ,but as I looked at it ,I found something strangely symmetrical about it,in the way that the curving lines were the same on every side and almost looked manmade.I picked up a sharp stone and used it to scrape off some of the moss and ferns that clung to the object,and to my surprise I revealed a patch of some rusty metallic surface ...I started to wiggle the thing from side to side ,trying to free it from the tree trunk. At one point I thought that it was going to break off...but than it finally pulled loose .It looked like a dragon claw... I flipped it over ...

no definatly manmade,there was some kind of strange foriegn writing on it but I could not decipher it .A sudden cold gust of wind blew harshly through the treetops whipping them violently from side to side,making me shiver. Was it a sign ? I wonderd .I thought about putting the object back into the tree in case there may have been a curse on it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.I felt greedily attached to it and the longer I held it the more I became reluctant to part with it and so I disided just to go ahead and keep it and so putting it in the pocket of my robes I went on my way...

The lanterns were lit through out the city...and as I stared up at the yellow lights on the hill top against the darling sky ,and I heard the drums sounding,I knew that the festival was about to begin...I headed up through the forrest ,carrying a unfinished painting of the trees and undergrowth...


	11. Chapter 11

The water lotus festival was held in the late spring of every year,in honor of the river and moon spirits...for three nights the humans would come out to dance in the streets,wearing masks and pounding on drums,carrying prayer flags and portable shrines ,celebrating until midnight...

When the sacred ceremony of the water lotus would be held at the edge of the sea,and the fireworks would be let off,marking the beginning of a new day,the ceremony would repeat itself all over again...the festivals were the only times I ever got to fit in with the humans...

I could hear people speaking to one another through the darkness...and as I headed up the road,they had come so close that I thought I would bump into them...

And yetI could not see them or tell what they were saying...it wasn't Japanese... It wasn't even a language...it didn't make any since...the voices were arguing now,and sounded as though they were all around me and on every side...than I got a glimpse of something small and white out of the corner of my eye that was running up and down the tree limbs and I knew exactly what they were... I called them Omens. Whenever I would've go out to paint in the woods or to be alone by the temple ...the Omens would follow me mimicking my own voice and trying to Madden me with their wordless chatter.I could hear several of them calling out my name ,some of them dropped down besides me and bobed their heads at me tainting me to through something at them and started letting out a low humming sound that throbbed and pulsed hurting my head and no matter which way I went I couldn't get away from them...I started to run. When I made it on to the road ...the sound of the Omens died down and looking back I could see them watching me from the trees.I had made it out ,they could not follow me into the city.I ternd to leave and found to my surprise that there was one citing on my shoulder,trying to hitch a ride into the city .Angered by this I hit it ,knocking the Omen off on to the ground and grabbing up a stone from the heavy moss and roots that bound it to the earth,I held it up over the fleeing Omen and thrust it down with all my strength. The Omen was struck ,it was cold and lay dead at my feet.I was shocked! I had never been able to kill one they would always just vanish into nothingness only to reappear somewhere else...they had haunted me for ten years...for as long as I had been in japan... I examined the smashed humanoid body that lay bent and twitching against the stones ...its big black eyes sunk in and the creature suddenly decomposed in front of me. I looked back into the trees...all the other Omens were howling and wailing and than they all disappeared.


	12. Chapter 12

Back at the dojo I went to my chambers put on my costume:a samurai sute of armer of the typical yoroi style and looking at my face in the mirror I thought "Damn I look like hell ! "and I put on a mask to make myself look more human .Why had I been cursed looking like a freak? What great sin had I committed in a past life (not that I believed in past lives)to have ended up like this ?why couldn't I be like everyone else ? Was this my destany to live my whole life alone... and in disguise... Feeling sad and deprest I headed down stairs, shoved open the sliding doors,and was about to go out into it street when I heard my master call my name from behind me." Vinny its dark ,take a lantern with you" Sun wu cam down the stairs carrying a red lantern and came out to stand by me on the steps.'Vinny are you hearing this?aren't they amazing ?"a big wooden float was being pulled by and there was two women standing on it , pounding on drums and howling loudly, but how was that impressive ,it sounded like someone boiling cats." What music! What voices! " " sounds like two cats having a fit in a bucket of duck sauce to me ."I said " how can you say such a thing about those talented artists? " " if they're artists than I'm a musician!" he hit me on the head "Vincent how can you have lived in Japan for all of these years and still have no taste for fine music? " "its not that I have no taste for music ,I just have good taste , now Edith Piaf is a good Singer" " so what now you're saying that I have bad taste? " " oh don't be a grand pa!" I said " Vinny ,have you no respect for your master ?" " Oh I guess to you I do seem old... " "Antique!" I said " Oh teenagers!" he held out the lantern for me to take and like a fool I took it with my hurt arm and almost dropped it.

Sunwu must have seen me flinch in pain,because he took the lantern and held it up to see my arm,if he found out thatI had cut myself again ,he would only delay me longer...

I could tell it was too late,he had already seen the dried blood...

"Vincent!"

"There's nothing to see!"

"Let me look at that arm!"

"No."

"Vincent !"

ReluctanIy i held out my arm...i had wrapped an old rag around it...but you could easily make out the red stains...

A great sadness came into his eyes...

"Why Vincent?"


	13. Chapter 13

I sat on a tatami mat,on the floor of the dojo...

Sunwu brought in a basen of hot water,he took out a packet of herbs,and threw them in,the withered leaves uncurled on the surface of the water,and a strong earthy scent rose up with the steam..

He told me to soak my arm in it...

It burned at first, but after a while the pain left ...

"Now if your through wasting my time-" I said ,

"VinnyI was going to wait until tonight to give you this,but I have decided you should have it now..."

Sunzu stood up,and went into the next room...

While was gone ,i reached for the towel to dry off my arm...and as I did so ,something in the corner caught my eye, I looked up,and that's when I saw the man...

He wasn't an old man,but his black hair was already turning gray...he the beginnings of a beard on his chin,and when he smiled I saw that his teeth were rotten...

For a long while we stared at each other through the darkness...

Sun wu returned ,carrying something in his hand ,and knealt down between me and the stranger...

couldn't tell if Sunwu noticed him,and I didn't want to mention it to him...in case the man wasn't real...

As I wached him ,the intruder leaned down and muttered something I couldn't understand and waited for my reply...

"Vincent?are you alright?"

I turned back to Sunwu,

"Are we the only ones here?"

"What?"

"Are we the only ones here?just you and me?"

"Of course,why?"

"Never mind...its nothing..."

I glanced back the man and saw that he was still there...


	14. Chapter 14

I decided to change the subject...

"What's that?" I asked,

Sunwu unwrapped the cloth and held out the strange object he had brought for me to see...

It was a carved jade pendant,hanging from a rope of twine...

"Keep this close to your chest,it will make your heart like a stone...I can see the suffering in your eyes...this will take away the pain..."

I don't know why I took it...but I hung it around my neck ...it felt cold against my skin...

picking up the lantern I left ...


	15. Chapter 15

The people were moving through the street...there were fire eaters and lion dancers performing...the air was alive filled with excitement... It was a kolidiscope of music,movement ,colors and laughter...confetti was falling from the sky...

I felt likeI was lost in a dream..firecrackers blossomed in a myriad of explosive color and rained down on the crowd and was created with laughter and screams...an old man turned towards me and I was shocked to see his face was twisted into a demonic snarle,but only for a moment and it was normal again...

From the corner of my eyeI saw a flash of color...a beautiful girl in a pink kimono...she turned to look at me and then she was gone...I pushed my way through the crowd and peered down an alley way...there were crates and bundles of garbage and refuse pilled against the side of the buildings in a place where the light seemed strangely eclipsed... I saw a figure that looked like a bundle of black rags knealing...it struck me as odd ,that amid all this merriment the creature would be weeping...as I watched it seemed to unfurle two leathery black wings and a stand...to my horror I saw that it was a gargoyle...

I reeled away from the alley and stood gasping and sweating and shaking among the seething crowd of party goersI allowed them to push me along...like a peice of driftwood in a stream...uncaring where they took me...

My mind raced ...searching for various explanations for what I had just seen...perhaps what I had mistaken for a gargoyle was just an old begger dressed in rags..yes...that must have been it...what I had presumed was a demon was only a macob disguise... Soon I was happy again ...someone grabbed my arm and we began running through the crowd...masked faces swam past my eyes ...I saw a golden float coming towards us in the parade...dancing girls surrounded it with cimbles and chimes clashing..they were whirling...there long hair swirrled...their ankles flashed...it was a glittering,dizzying display...a tall throned figure rode along the float ...his head was crowned with stag horns and above his head a constellation of stars swirled...in his hands he held two Crystal balls which he was juggling...I asked my masked friend who had pulled me to this place "who is this man?"

The laughing reply was "he's the necromancer..."

"Necromancer?"

"He's the goblin king!"

I stared at the throwned figures face...trying to make out his features...

They all seemed indistinct.I got a queer feeling in my stomach ...why could I not see his eyes?

I turned to my friend my friends face have changed ...his mask was melting like the clocks in a Dali painting..his face was melting...

Not now!

I realized what was happening...

"Not now!I said aloud...it was a shout...there was a shift and a reset...and then my friends face was only a laughing mask...and what I had assumed was a goblin king was really an old samurai on a stack of pillows ...which was real?!

What was happening?!

Which was real?!

friend was tugging on my arm...

"what's wrong?"

His words bumped around in my skull like frightened birds...I had to get away...

I thought :where is quite?where canI breath?

I pushed my way through the crowd...through the throngs of sweating ,crazed partiers...past food carts...my feet slapping on the ground as I ran...down alley ways..past shop buildings...till the noise and the laughter and the music was far behind me...

WhenI stopped I was in the forrest...everything was silent...there was just the beating of my heart...and my shallow gasps for air...as I stood in the cool shade of the trees,feeling the dampness under my feet and breathing the heavy scent of ceder...I saw a flash of pink just ahead of me...

Through the trees...it was like a guiding light ...it was like the light of salvation...it was her...

The beautiful Japanese girl...

The girl in the pink kimono..

She was here...it was some kind of crazy miracle...how could she be here?waiting for me?

I could hear the crunch of twigs under her sandles she moved towards me...her head was bowed...her hair was as black as a ravens wing...she was here...almost close enough to touch...

"Are you real?" I asked...

"I'm as real as you want me to be..." She said

"How did you find me?"

"I heared your heart calling out to me.."

"It was screaming..."

her eyes looked into mine..deep pools of light and shadow...like still water where leaves have fallen...I reached out and touched her hand...it was soft and cool...a small hand ...like a child's...suddenly her lips brushed against mine...soft as a doves then she was laughing as she ran away...I followed after her...she was like a willow whisp ...a firefly...a ghost light in the forrest..I saw a snatch of pink fabric from her kimono through the ceders...a white heel...laughter on the breeze...it twinkled like wind chimes...I heard the swish of limbs as she passed by...we had traveled quite a ways...

I came out upon the hillside...down belowI saw the flickering yellow lights...I had come all the way back to my teachers dojo...she was gone...had any of this been real?

I placed my hand on the place where she had kissed me...I could still feel the kiss...


	16. Chapter 16

I entered the dojo and headed up to my masters room...I had promised him that I would see him before I went to bed...my eyes adjusted to the dim light...I saw my master sitting there ...his face was in darkness...he was staring at me...

I knealt down beside him...and holding the jade charmI thanked him..

"Master you were right...this charm you have given me has taken away the pain...tonight Ifeel like everything has changed..."

I waited for him to speak but when he didnt I rushed on...

"I met some one tonight at the festival...a beautiful girl...I feel like we really connected...it was wonderful..."

I waited for him to speak again ,but he didn't...

"Speak master,tell me what you are thinking..."

He was silent...

"Master?"

I reached out to touch him and to my horror he fell forwards ,his jaw dropped open,and black bowel seeped out onto the tatami mat...

My master was dead!

I stood up shaking...frozen...then from behind me,voices,the others had come back from the festival...

They were all around me...

"Sensei!Sensei!Vinny what have you done?!"

Kai said as he crouched beside his father,I thrust myself back away from them and fled...

my body was moving -I was running-running from the voices that were shouting-"come back Vinny!what have you done?!"

My legs were like pistons...automaticly propelling my body forwards...swallowed by panic I couldn't stop...

One fevered thought cauterized my brain...

Oh God its happening again!again!would it ever end?!

My heart was bursting-my breath-shrieking from my lungs-running through the Forrest's and the fields and country lanes -crossing streams-

I don't know how long I ran...when I finnaly came to a stop the moon had risin...and I was standing at an ancient ,crumbling fallen down temple...I didn't have a clue where I was...all I knew was that I had escaped...and now at last I could stop running...the voices in my head had quieted ...I was as still and cold inside as a bucket of rain water ...it was then that my exhaustion took over my body and I curled up next to the stone wall and fell dreamlessly asleep...


	17. Chapter 17

I awoke to splintered sunlight on my face...I felt empty and shaken...my whole body ached...the memories and terrors of yesterday seemed like a dream...and like a sleep walker I arose ...

At my feet was a small pathway and I began to follow it..

A short ways in I found two sticks of burning incence in a stone shrine in front of me and a rice cake...perhaps an offering or perhaps just a snack...

I heard a sound ..it was a laughing chirp...almost like a bird...I looked up...they were like flickering sparks...a flash of auburn...a flame of sienna moving through the green...there faces were puckish and wise and full of satire...I had the feeling they were laughing at me...but at once in sympathy with my predicament...we were kindred spirits...the Fox's and I...both misunderstood...

I followed the faint winding path through the ferns...it lead to the steps of the temple...from this side the ancient building had been rebuilt...there were robed monks moving about the temple...they seemed neither frightened nor surprised to see me there...but went about their business unperturbed...

They would come and go with their eyes lowered...paying no attention to me as I sat down on the stone steps with the Fox's all around me...I even said hello to one of the monks he only bowed and backed away...but I could tell by the look in his dark eyes that he was honored for me to have spoken to him...


	18. Chapter 18

I awoke to splintered sunlight on my face...I felt empty and shaken...my whole body ached...the memories and terrors of yesterday seemed like a dream...and like a sleep walker I arose ...

At my feet was a small pathway and I began to follow it..

A short ways in I found two sticks of burning incence in a stone shrine in front of me and a rice cake...perhaps an offering or perhaps just a snack...

I heard a sound ..it was a laughing chirp...almost like a bird...I looked up...they were like flickering sparks...a flash of auburn...a flame of sienna moving through the green...there faces were puckish and wise and full of satire...I had the feeling they were laughing at me...but at once in sympathy with my predicament...we were kindred spirits...the Fox's and I...both misunderstood...

I followed the faint winding path through the ferns...it lead to the steps of the temple...from this side the ancient building had been rebuilt...there were robed monks moving about the temple...they seemed neither frightened nor surprised to see me there...but went about their business unperturbed...

They would come and go with their eyes lowered...paying no attention to me as I sat down on the stone steps with the Fox's all around me...I even said hello to one of the monks he only bowed and backed away...but I could tell by the look in his dark eyes that he was honored for me to have spoken to him...Satori Waraku the blind seer looked up from his meditation...he felt a disturbance ...a ripple in a pool that cause many more riples to widen and widen into infinity...he had felt it coming...increasingly nearer...now as his fellow monks came shuffling into the temple...he already knew what he was going to say...

"Master! Master!a creature has come to the temple...his apearence is like a Kapa is he a river God?"

Their voices rose and fell...

"Should we worship him?"

The ancient master stared through unseeing eyes at them ...he had been blind since childhood...in his minds eye he saw everything...his view of the world was clear...

"No he is not a river God...but allow him to stay...perhaps he is hungry...perhaps he seeks nourishment... Bring him to me..."

"Master ,he won't come into the temple..."

"Then we must go to him..minister to him my brothers ,but do not worship him...for he is not a Kapa..."

The blind seer arose from his knealing position on the floor...


	19. Chapter 19

"The birds of the air toil not...they harvest not...reap not...yet they eat my son...observe the mystery of the Fox's,how they do not eat the rats of this temple...it is mystery...the universe is full of mystery...but there is a rhythm to the universe...a music if you will...you can hear it if you stand still and listen my son..."

The monks came and went ...they would not look at Vincent...even the blind seer stared off into the canopy of the forrest as he spoke...

"Is there a story you wish to tell me my son?"

"My story is an old one,I don't believe it has a happy ending..."

Satori Waraku reminded Vincent of his father,it awakened a yearning in his heart for Splinter...an irrepressible ache...but at the same time both rage and hate ballenced with these feelings...

"I have had a dream...there were two Fox's...one lay near death...another fox with a troubled spirit...this young fox is a victim of dark forces that are working apon it...he is not to blame for what has happened... This young fox must flee...this young fox must go back to whence it came...only then will it find truth and redemption...the fox shrine is for troubled souls...that is why the Fox's come here ...the people try to hunt them...we can nourish you but these temple walls can not protect you from the world...there is peace here my son...it is a deep well...drink from the pool of tranquillity... Dip your cup into it and drink for there is plenty for all..."


	20. Chapter 20

"The birds of the air toil not...they harvest not...reap not...yet they eat my son...observe the mystery of the Fox's,how they do not eat the rats of this temple...it is mystery...the universe is full of mystery...but there is a rhythm to the universe...a music if you will...you can hear it if you stand still and listen my son..."

The monks came and went ...they would not look at Vincent...even the blind seer stared off into the canopy of the forrest as he spoke...

"Is there a story you wish to tell me my son?"

"My story is an old one,I don't believe it has a happy ending..."

Satori Waraku reminded Vincent of his father,it awakened a yearning in his heart for Splinter...an irrepressible ache...but at the same time both rage and hate ballenced with these feelings...

"I have had a dream...there were two Fox's...one lay near death...another fox with a troubled spirit...this young fox is a victim of dark forces that are working apon it...he is not to blame for what has happened... This young fox must flee...this young fox must go back to whence it came...only then will it find truth and redemption...the fox shrine is for troubled souls...that is why the Fox's come here ...the people try to hunt them...we can nourish you but these temple walls can not protect you from the world...there is peace here my son...it is a deep well...drink from the pool of tranquillity... Dip your cup into it and drink for there is plenty for all..."

Vinny sat there on the stone steps...and looked down at his arm...there was gooseflesh on his skin...if he had had hair it would have stood on end...he made up his mind ...it was an active choice...it was an object set in motion...he would return to America...he would confront his destiny... For better or for worse...

The blind seer had opened the door to his secret pain and allowed the light to shine in...

Time passed...shadows moved across the temple steps...the blind seer turned his face to the sunlight ...

Birds sang..Fox's came and went...in and out of the shrine...

A green beetle crawled across Vinny's foot...Satori

Suddenly laughed...

"I see you have made up your mind...it is the right choice my son..."

And with that he got up and slowly made his way back into the temple...

I sat there ,pondering all the things that I had learned...and all the things I didn't understand about the last two days...tonight I would leave,and make my way to the sea port...

Somehow ,someway I would return to this place..to thank the seer for the wisdom and kindness he had shown me...

Feeling suddenly exhausted I went to find a shady place out of the monks way where I could rest...

WhenI awoke I found a small bundle tied with string lying by my head along with a flask of sweet water from the pool...

I sat upI felt something move in the sleeve of my robe,to my surprise I found a little grey fox kit curled up asleep there...

Reaching into my sleeveI took him out and sat him in the grass...I was still half asleep,I went and splashed my face in the icy water that came from the spring...when I looked down,I saw the fox kit was sitting on my foot..

"You again?I said,

" perhaps you have found a friend ..."a voice said from behind me softly...

"It could be that you both need one..."

"don't know if he'd like where I'm going..."

"The pathways we travel and the burdens we carry are always lighter when shared..."

I looked down at the fox kit...after a moment,I picked him up and stuffed him in my sleeve...

"I'm going now..." I said and picking up the bundle and flask of water I started down the path..

"Good luck my brother ,peace be with you..."

The monks voice followed me from the shadows...


	21. Chapter 21

Carrying the fox kit,I made my way across rice fields ,down winding dirt roads and countrysides ,until I reached the seaport.I found a boat headed for New York ,got on board , hid myself in a dinghy and covered myself back up with the tarp .

Two weeks of briny, confined ,sea sick hell! If purgatory could be a boat , this was it.I and the fox Kit got to know the in side of that dinghy like it was a second skin.

The bread in the bundle that the monks gave me didn't last over two days .Food and water wasn't easy to steal but I managed it .The ship's crew couldn't watch the galley all the time so we survived on tinned biscuits ,cheese and pickled fish .I will never eat salted squid again!

The day we pulled into New York harbour was the best day of my life! We couldn't have survived much longer.

We slipped away ,swallowed up by the grinding machine works of caos and movement that was New York.

In a dilapidated,demilitarised zone in the Bronx I found refuge...the skeletal remains of a church became my sanctuary... It was condemned and abandoned by the nuns long ago...squeezed between two warehouses it was the perfect hide out for a displaced refugee turtle..

My room was in the bell tower...my only neighbors were the doves...

The first morning I awoke in america my first thought was I'm breathing the same air as splinter...my father...

For the first time in years I felt my spirit begin to lift...I felt something that wasn't quite happiness ...but it was close...I was almost home...maybe my luck had turned...

There were amillion possibilitys...a million miracles out there...maybe one of them could work out for me...I only needed one...I only needed splinter to love me...to believe me...to be my father again...


	22. Chapter 22

As I went about my day in the church ,gazing up at the angels in the architecture I reasoned...

I knew wecouldn't go back and change the past ,but perhaps we could go forwards and be a family again...the old wounds could heal...I thought about how I could meet with splinter...how I could arrange it...it was important not to shock anyone...how old was splinter now?

I tried to visualize the old rats face...the kindly eyes...the intelligent brow...my minds eye retained a sharp picture that never faded...I wandered through the city trying to familiarize myself with my surroundings...


	23. Chapter 23

As I went about my day in the church ,gazing up at the angels in the architecture I reasoned...

I knew we couldn't go back and change the past ,but perhaps we could go forwards and be a family again...the old wounds could heal...I thought about how I could meet with splinter...how I could arrange it...it was important not to shock anyone...how old was splinter now?

I tried to visualize the old rats face...the kindly eyes...the intelligent brow...my minds eye retained a sharp picture that never faded...I wandered through the city trying to familiarize myself with my surroundings...careful to remain unseen by the people in the streets ,if they saw me thy might call the cops .

I wondered about my master ,was he really dead ?maybe I should have stayed to explain myself?...doubts arose ...the old seer told me to leave ...should I have left?... someday I would like to return to visit the old seer ...it was surprising how someone completely blind could see so much .The blind seer was the only one who had ever understood me ...had anyone ever really tried?...I wouldn't think about that... it hurt too much... When I thought about the past the pain took my breath away ,so I refused to go there.

When you really care about somebody ...you depend on them...you give them a piece of your heart ...and they reject you ...it hurts so bad, it catches in your throat ,it leaves you in a cold sweat ...only one word screams in your brain ..." Why?"

I felt like I had lost something that I could never find again .Its not like you could go to the store and get another something to replace what was lost, this was something that you could not find in any place in the whole world ...it was Splinter's love ! it was being a part of a family again!


	24. Chapter 24

That day I wandered about in the shadows ducking down here and there in the always until exhausted I returned to my garret. I couldn't outrun my churning thoughts...I was tired but excited tired ...I had made up my mind ...tomorrow I would leave a letter for Splinter telling him where to meet me ...I would set thoughts into motion ...I would case ripples in the pool ...an object in motion stays in motion ...I was that object.

The stars were my light that nigh as I sat in the window seal composing my letter .The fox kit was my only audience... he was a good listener...if I hadn't had Sikoshi Kitsune (littl fox ) with me I don't think I could have made it this far ...he was my only friend .we were in this together ...he and I...to the end.

I got up .The fox kit and I ate some stale bread and some dove's eggs .I put the note in the pocket of my robe ,picked up the fox kit and made my way out into the streets. I had to find an entrance to the sewers. I had no memories of the tunnels ...it would be hard going today.

I travelled down the endless labyrinth of tunnels.I had no compass but my heart to guide me...the sound of my footsteps echoing through the catacombs was the only sound to break the silence. I traveled for miles ...for hours it seemed...to the heart of the undergrounds .

I was standing at a cross way of three tunnels...there was a breath of air coming from one of the tunnels... a familiar scent ...it was almost like... could it be?...pizza!

I followed the ghost sent down the tunnels... I didn't know if it was real or just my imagination but I followed it ...it brought up memories of Mikey ...of family dinners together ...of home ...the smell of old stale pizza was growing stronger ...I was sure of it ... I turned the corner ...abruptly the tunnel ended at a brick wall ...the passageway had lead nowhere ...but I had been on the right path I was sure of it ...I thought ...perhaps I had taken a wrong turn somewhere... I would have to backtrack and continue the search from the long walk I leaned up against a steam escape wheel on a pipe fastened to the brick wall...it turned ...I felt the wall give in a little ...startled I leapt back away from the wall and stood there pondering what had just happened... than all at once it came back to me ...this wasnt a brick wall at all ,it was the door to the layer .Taking out the note I laid it on a peice of concrete by the door for splinter to find and began to walk away...but then filled with dread I went back,grabbed the letter and ran and hid with it a ways down the tunnel...Sukoshi Kitsuni came out of my sleeve and sat beside me on the wet gravel...

"I can't do it..." I said..."I can't see splinter again...if he doesn't love me ,it will kill me...so ...its better not to know..."

I thought for a while wondering what I should do...

"No I have to know...not knowing is worse...I have to see him even if it does kill me..."

The fox kit looked up at me ,

"Cub,if you had been waiting to see your father for as long as I have,you'd be nervous too..."

I got to my feet ...taking the fox in my arms I walked back to the entrance of the lair...trembling and shaking I took out the letter,plaest it in front of the door,put a rock on top of it and ran...


	25. Chapter 25

Mikey ran in carrying a newspaper and throwing it down on the dinningroom table where his three brothers were playing cards he shouted "Go get Splinter !"

"Mikey what the shell is going on?"Donnie asked

" Vinny is wanted by the police for the murder of his master in Japan!" Mikey panted "it says here that after poisoning his master, Vinny ran away from the dojo and that now he could posibly be on his way back to America!"

grabing the newspaper from Mikey Raph read it for himself "I don't believe this" he snorted

"Go get Splinter "

Leo said . Donnie stood up and running into the dojo where Splinter was training he shouted "Splinter it's Vinny , They say he's wanted for murder!"

Splinter froze .The nunchuks fell to the floor with a bang ...his face became still and grave ...he followed Donnie into the dinningroom and that's when everything went crazy ,every one began arguing at once .

"My sons,this is all my fault .I shouldn't have sent him away to my friend Sun Wu .It was my responsibility and now my Carma has come around."

"But sensei there was nothing that we could do ."

Donnie said.

Splinter felt like all his lifefors was draining down through the floor

"I say we go find him and talk to him ." Raph said

Im the one who should go talk to him , I'm his father, he will listen to me ."

"Splinter , we don't know what he will do, it's not safe." Raph said

"We'll take care of this ."Leo assured him

"We'll if he realy wants to... go father knows best and all that jaz ."

"Mikey !" everyone yelled at the same time

Mikey you're such a gutles flipfloper Donie added .

"What!"

Splinter became very, very still ,his ears twitched , his tail switched , his nose quivered and than he said "I feel something."

"Ooooo ...cool mistic ,ninja shit !" Mikey said

Leo stood up "I felt it to ."

"What's happening?something's happening ." Donnie was walking back and forth nervously

"We'll I don't feel anything ,"Mikey said " I'm just Hungry ."

"Go look outside my sons ."

All for turtles rushed to the front door ...Raph got their first.

"You. want to look first Leo ?"Raph asked ...

Leo puld open the front door and there lying on the doorstep , was the note that Vinny had left, only moments ago .There was was a long stund silence ...Splinter held the note that was childishly tyed to a rock with a pice of string , like it was a precious thing . He looked suddenly frail. The four turtles had never seen him look Like this ,it both fritend and confused them ...Leo had a sudden surge of doubt ...Raph became angery ... his fists clinched .

"Let me see guys." Mikey yeld trying to snatch the rock from splinter ,but Donny grabed his arm "not now Mikey ." he whispered

Splinter took a long breath

"Things have been set in motion ..."he exhaled a long agonized breath

" I have feared this day would come and I have expected it ,yes I even hoped for it ,we must proceed with caution and delicacy my sons,this is a family matter,it must stay with the family!"

"Shouldn't we call the cops ? " Donny asked

"We do what Sensei says is best ."

"but Leo, if we don't call the cops that makes us acsesaries after the fact and that means serious jail time and uh ..." Donny trails off. Mikey felt excited .He hardly remembered Vinny and was actually looking forward to seeing him again."wow keep it in the family...family is everything... Family ROKS! "

"I'm going to go look for him ." Raph said

"There is no need my sons ..he has given us the addresss ." Splinter said while reading the note.

Splinter you have to stay here ."Leo said sternly

Splinter looked at his sons and narrowed his eyes .They could tell that he was terning the matter over in his ratly mind, than finaly he said"Perhaps you are right my sons ,I'll await your return." abruptly he turned and went back inside the lair

" wow that was ease . "Donie said

" what are you slowpokes waiting for ?let's go." Raph was already heading down the tunnel

"Cool an adventure to see my knew bro !"

"Mikey this isn't an adventure this is serious." Donny said pushing past him .Leo turned and stared back at the door ,than reluctantly followed his three brothers down the sewer tunnels.

"I really don't think that we should be doing this ."Donnie yelled as they ran

" What choice do we have ?" Raph said .Leo was keeping his thoughts to himself .They were moving fast...they had left the sewers and were leaping from rooftop to rooftop.

"We should have took the subway ." Raph was panting

"Well actually ,thirty two feet per second per second, or per second squared ,moving on the rooftops is actually a faster mode of travel ...a subway train at top speed, not considering stops ,is aproximitly seventy miles pH an good day and..."

"Why did I eat all of that pizza I'm going to hurl !" Mikey wined interupting Donnie

"Shut up Mikey !" every one shouted at once .

all four brothers jumped from the building down into an alleyway and took a side street .

The city of New York shimmed like club soda all around them ,the sky darkend and the moon came up .The brothers began to voice their thoughts, it was a mixture of emotions ...Leo was terse and non communitiv ,Mikey kept a running babble which graded on their nerves...none of them knew what to expect.

The Bronx by night was a sea of decapitated buildings, their structures juted up like rotting bones out of the tarmac... it was a freak show of gang mimbers ,drug dealers ,sprinkuled with a few homles people,who paid little or no attention to the turtles as they passed like shadows .Beneath the Gorg Washington Bridge ,there was the distant klanking and groaning of the bardges ,farys and tankers that moved up and down the waterways, along with the many sounds of the steady traffic going over the bridge...Vinny was nowhere in sight.

"Dudes maby its a no show ?" Mikey suggested

"Maby its a set up ?" Leo said

"No ...why would he leave the note ?if he was going to do something ,he could have done it at the lair." Raph cut in

Donny felt behind his shell"Darn it ,I left my night vision goggles back at home .Man !they could have really come in handy right about now."

Than they all heard angry voices rising and falling ,echoing from bellow the bridges suport ,they ran towards the voices .They saw a frighteningly formileyer figure crouched under the massive concrete pullers at the bace of the bridge .He was crouched doubled over in pain ,it was Splinter and he was clutching his right arm to his chest .

"What have you done to Splinter?!Leo shouted

"Nothing ! Nothing ! It was nothing my sons."

"Sensei ...what are you doing here?"Donnie asked

" Did you hurt him ."Raph grould

"It's not what it looks like my sons ,do not be so quick to judge you're brother."

"Brother!"Raph exclamed

" Glad to see you too !"Vinny replayed and you could hear the rising anger in his vioce .as Vinny stepped out of the darkness ,the five turtle brothers stood and looked at each other for the first time in years .when they first saw Vinny ,they did not know what he would do ,he was a completely enigma. Vinny had a sharp ,staccato way of speaking ,it was very different, his whole appearance was foreign .This was not the little turtle from their childhood ,their memory did not serve them well .Vinny looked almost prehistoric ,he didn't even seem to be the same species as the rest of them ,he was bulkier,heavier ,he wore his bandanna with a strange knot in the back ,his whole look was more athintic ninja .It was remenesent of an ancient samurai.

"Radical dude! he's a real ninja,he even has the accent, high five bro!"

Mikey held up his hand,palm out to Vinny ,wanting him to high five with him ,but Leo grabbed Mikeys arm "wait a minute Mikey ."

"What's going on here ?" Raph demanded

Splinter straightened and sat upright" We need to all talk calmly ,my sons ,nothing can be accomplished through anger ,listen to Vinny speak ,he has something important to say. "

Vinny's p.o.v

I Vinny stood under the bridge ,looking at my brothers .This meeting with Splinter had not went as I had pland. Now I could see the hate and the fear in all of their faces .I hated myself .I wished I had never come here...everything was wrong .I had even accidentally hurt Splinters arm when I had grabbed him in anger when he told me that I must turn myself in .I dedent know my own strength... How could I have hurt my father! I could feel something hot and bitter and angry like a molitok cocktail began to ignite inside my brain ,it was hard to think ,it was hard to see.I wished I could run away ,but where could I go? this was my home ,this was my family,this was my father ,this was the only place that I knew to run to .Things were deteriorating fast !I looked at Leo ...we were back where we were ten years ago .

"I'm Innocent." I said " I wasent even there when my master was kild...I had been out untill sunrise at a festival .When I came back to the dojo , He was already dead.I had been the first to find him .I ran because I knew that everyone would blame me for killing him, that's why I came back ,I was hoping that you would all understand."

"See there ! He's Innocent ! I totally knew it !,high five bro!"Mikey shouted, Leo grabbed his arm again " Mikey wait."

"So what are we a family again?are we still mad at each other ? what ?" Mikey asked

"he's innocent until proven guilty ,they'll still arrest him,their still going to have a trial back in Japan."

"Hush Donnie you,don't know that ." Raph said

I laft " Innocent until proven guilty! Like I was ten years ago! more like guilty until proven innocent! "

I was watching my brothers closely ,I saw Donnie take Splinter's arm protectively " If you're so innocent than why did you hurt Splinter ? What did you do to his arm?"

"It wasn't my fault ! I ...I didn't mean to ! It just happened!"

"Just like everything seems to "happen" Vinny but people get hurt." Leo said "How do we know you didn't accidentally kill your sensei? How do we know if your telling the truth?"

"Don't fight my sons ,I'm fine." Splinter said

"What kind of a monster hurts their father!" Donnie yelled

The fire in my brain exploded like a hand grenade

"If you're looking for a monster,well maybe you just found one!" I replied.


	26. Chapter 26

Vinny turned and ran...Leo chased after him.

"Splinter ,are you OK?" Raph went to Splinters side but Mikey and Donnie had already helped him to his feet.

"Mikey and Donnie are going to help me back to the lair ,you go after them." Splinter took hold of Raph's arm "save you're brother !"

Leaving Splinter with his two brothers ,Raph ran up the hill from beneath the bridge and after searching through the darkness, he spotted Leo and Vinny across the double highways heading towards the city." Dame it I'm fallin behind !"he said aloud and chaised after them .the highways were tough obstacles to clear and by the time he had found an opening and made a wild dash across to the other side ,his two brothers were no where in sight." I'm loosin um ! I'm loosin um !"he ran faster...

Leo had chased Vinny into the city and had him corned in a trash strained, dark allyway .Vinny was striding back and forth waving his arms and talking to himself in Japanese.

Leo was panting ,it was a bizarre ,juxtaposition... The whole seen was surreal...

"I'M NEVER GOING BACK!" this time in English

Leo could barely hear what he was saying over the pounding of his heart,the blood drummed in his ears...

"We'll all go with you ,as a family!"

"What family ?I don't have a family ! I am alone...! I'll always be alone !"

"Vinny that's not true."

"How is it not true?!"

"Were you're brothers."

"Yeah ,I really injoid spending holidays together...I really enjoyed spending Christmas together,and every year when you sent me birthday presents... NOT!"

"It doesn't do any good to dwell on the past ,it could be different..."

"How could it be different ?! You can't undo ten years of lonely ness !You had Splinter! You had fame and fortions and goodtimes! I read the newspapers ! I read online! you didn't miss me you were having the times of your life! I'm nothing to you! I don't see a family I see only enamies! ...You made Splinter send me away maybe you were jealous?!"

Mabe I was!" Leo admitted" but there's nothing I can do about that now ,except say I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't mean anything ,sorry is SHIT!"

"You can't keep running Vinny."

"And who's going to stop me ? YOU!"

"I didn't come here to fight you ."

Vinny stood there ,his eyes were cold and hard and ferule as any trapped animal

"You know all our paths have lead to this one ...its just you ...and me."

"It doesn't have to be this way ,we could go back to the lair and talk this over."

"It ha's to be this way ."

Leo saw by the look on Vinny's face that he had already decided something... Slowly Vinny reached behind his pack and drew one of his swords,a kitana with a yellow cloth tied to the end .He held it out at Leo ,but made no move ,he was waiting for Leo to do the same... Reaching behind his shell ,Leo took hold of his own sword and drew it out...

"There they are !" Raph painted braising himself on the side of the building and trying to catch his breath .Taking hold of the fire escape Raph leapt down from the rooftop into the beganing of the alleyway and saw Leo and Vinny clashing swords"Dam it ,I took to long!" Raph ran up to them and leaping over Leos shoulders he stood in between his two brothers who were at a face off.

"You guys ,don't fight !"

"Raph what are you doing here?" Leo grould

"Get out of the way!" Vinny shouted

"Were all brothers under the shell !"

" This is no time to talk in bumper sticker Raph.''

"Going to get hurt!" Vinny grated...he was pacing again

"Splinter told me to save one of you ,I don't know which?...who knows ...maybe I'm the one who needs saving ?"

"Mabe so !"

Vinny said and than he leapt ,summersalting over Raph's shoulders ,kicking both him and Leo in the head.

"We used to be friends! We used to be bros ! "Raph said in between kicks and roles

"Not any more...you're nothing to me now!" Vinny yelled

Leo quick advanced towards Vinny ,raising his fist ,ready to bring it down on him, but Raph grabbed Leos bandanna and puld it down over his eyes so that he couldn't see where he was punching and with Raphs other free hand he shuved Vinny's down two...

"No refs on the battlefield Raph!" Leo shouted angerly as he straitened his bandanna...Vinny did the same and than they attacked each other again .Raph kicked both of their swords away and punched them both in the stomach in quick succession... And when Leo could breath again he said "Raph I'm going to kick your but ,after I kick his!"

"Yea ,you and what army?!" Raph said .Vinny had just made it up from the ground and was braising himself on a dumpster ,clutching his stomach

" why are you doing this to me ?"

"cause my sensei told me to."

"Do you always do what your sensei tels you?"Vinny wheezed

" Yea ,only when he's my Dad. "Raph said picking up his two brothers swords and putting them in his shoulder belt .Vinny suddenly lunged delivering a lead finger jab to Raphs cheekbone and the next thing Raph knew he was on the ground with a pounding headache... Vinny forward burst passed the fallen Raph, launching a sidekick aimed at Leonardo's midsection... Leo side stepped ,purposely avoiding Vinny's blow at just the last moment so that he could counter attack ,pouncing on Vinny , Leo tackled him to the ground .Vinny through him off and they both resumed their on guard stances and began to circle each other...

"Would you two Lame Os , just stop it! this is getting stail fast!"

"Go home Raph ,"

"For once I agree with him!" Vinny said

Raph jumped in between them ,terning in a circle with his palms out " This aint happenin !this aint happenin!"

At the same time Vinny catapulted himself over raphs head ,while Leo ducked around Raphs side...The fight continued all around Raph ,as he feinted and blocked both combatants ,trying unsuccessfully, to keep them apart.

What seemed like hours latter Leo stood sweaty and painting...he was Give Out...Raph's left eye was swollen shut from a high hook kick... A small rivulet of blood came from a busted lip ,he looked worse than either Vinny or Leo ...Vinny was pretty much unscathed, except for a nick on his upper arm.

"This is getting us no where ." Raph coughed

"Why aren't you helping me Raph?" Leo asked

"You never should have started something that you can't finish !"Vinny said ,he had a wild look in his eye

"You need to come back with us to the lair." Leo gasped"Its the only way to finish this !"

"Its over man !" Raph joined in

"It's not over until I finish it !" With that Vinny vaulted backwards on to his hands than thrust himself up the alway wall ,onto a scaffolding and disappeared .they had a few fleeting glimpses of him climbing spider like up a cat walk ,than he was gone... It was as if he had never been there. Raph took a few stumbling steps after him than collapsed .Leo ,hands on knees doubled over and ,shook his head ,his sweat fell in droplets onto the concrete... "Don't bother !" he said ...Raph lay on his shell looking up at the night sky...he was beat... his eye throbbed dully "Let's go home ." he said

One brother helped the other get up and together ,they stumbled slowly down the alway ,arm in arm ...they were both Giv Out!

Meanwhile back at the lair...

"Man our brothers is like ...the real deel ! He's serious Natalis!" Mikey commented as he helped Splinter to his chambers and laid him down on the tatami mats to rest "that's why I told Raph to go save Leo."

"Well you never really said which brother to save ." Donny said as he went to fetch another pillow for Splinters arm...

"Your brother Vinny is very confused ...he studied Bushido in Japan ,I hope Leo will be alright?"

"he'll be feign... Leos like the Echoing, master !"

"But he has never faced an advisory quite like Vinny before."

"Woe ...do you think Vinny could take on Bruce Lee...? "

"Mikey Bruce Lee is dead!"Donnie said walking back in the room carrying the spare pillow and putting it under his Fathers hurt arm .Splinters arm was bruised and sore but otherwise it would be feign.

"Of course I know that Bruce Lees dead ."Mikey said as he followed Donnie out of Splinters room.

When Raph and Leo retuned to the lair ,Mikey's first comment was " DAME!"

"Any one got any Neosporen ...?A band aid...? Some raw stake for my eye ...?"Raph asked sarkasticly as he limpend through the front door.

" What happened to you?!"Mikey asked

"You ever hear of Hiroshimah ...? It was kind of like that!"

"How's Splinter?"Leo groaned as he staggered in holding to his head

" Be quiet Leo ,Splinters asleep. "

"How's his arms ?"

"It will be OK ,it's just a bruise..."Donnie informed him

"Mikey can you get me an Ice pack from the freezer ?"

"What happened out there? Did you find Vinny?"Mikey asked as he ran and got Leo an ice pack

" I don't even want to think about Vinny right now !" Leo said .Mikey handed him the ice pack . Holding it to his head ,Leo laid down on the couch and continued to moan...


	27. Chapter 27

Splinter was asleep and than he was awake.

He thought he heard a noise but all he could hear was the breathing of his four sons as they lay asleep in the living room .It felt Erie ...

His arm no longer hurt but he rubbed it absently... He took care not to awaken his four sons ...a plan was forming in his head ...he didn't know where it was leading ...he opened the front door and stuck his head out ...he stood there a moment ...was that a voice that he heard echoing down the tunnels?or just water dripping?

He stumbled a few steeps into the tunnel... He felt something sticky on his foot ...it was hard to see what it was in the dark...as his eyes adjusted to the gloom .He saw in horror that he was standing in a small puddle of blood. His eyes crawled from the puddle of blude up the crimson drips ,up the wall to the word "FATHER" .The word "FATHER" was written in blood on the wall .The letters were tilted in crazy savagery. Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder .It was Vinny

"I can't loose you again!" Vinny said and he grabbed him and they were moving down the tunnel fast...the rats tail whipped behind them .He didn't strugle...


	28. Chapter 28

Casey Jones cousin Sunny had a bould appearance and wore mostly zombie T-shirts... If a kid could resemble a Gothic porcupine ,than that was Sunny ,he had black spiked hair and a Punk attitude. He had met the turtles through Casey and had been close friends with them from their childhood and he hung out with them often. He had stayed in touch with Vinny online until he had stopped returning his emails about three years ago ,infact Vinny had stopped answering anyones emails. When Sunny got the email from Japan ,this was the first that he had heard of Vinny in years ...he went straight to the lair...

Raph was in the throes of a tearable nightmare ,when he wok up he rolled off the arm chair and stood up ready to fight... but found that it was only their friend Sunny standing their ,he had left the front door wide open, hi's hands were stained red and he was yelling "Blood !Blood!"

What's going on!" Raph demande ...the others had been awakend by all the shouting."Oh gosh where's Splinter !" Donnie yelled when he saw the blood on Sunny's hands

Leaping up Donnie went in to Splinters room calling for him "Leo he's not hear! fathers gone!"Leo ran out the open front door to look for him and that's when he saw the blood "Guys !You should come have a look at this !"

They all went outside...Mikey pointed to something lying on the front door steep "What is it?" Mikey crouched by the object and picked the thig up "What is it ?" He asked again

"Its a finger!" Donnie gasped

Mikey dropped the finger shrieking "I'm going to be scared for life!I can't believe I touched it !"

"Shut up Mikey ,this is serious!" Leo said

"Whos finger is it?" Mikey asked ...steeping back, they all looked up at the writing on the wall...they all came to the same conclusion... "VINNY!" they all said

"Its weird that you should say that ,look at this email that I got this morning..." Sunny said holding up his cellphone

The turtles crouded around ...it was from Sun Wu ,Vinny's Master who they had all thoght was dead.

The email said : ,"is Vinny with you ? He ran away from the dojo...he thought that I was dead... I'm worried about him...it had nothing to do with Vinny ,I was poisoned by my own son ...he is a very confused boy...

If Vinny is with you please tell him that everything is OK... If he wants to come back to Japan there is nothing to stop him...My son is no longer at the dojo he is in jail...

Please tell me if Vinny is all right ,I'm worried about him."

all four turtles looked at each other .

"What ?What's going on ?"Sunny asked

The four turtles remained silent...


	29. Chapter 29

Vinny had taken his Father very high ...at this height the wind was fierce ...a storm was brewing...

Vinny had lost control .The battle with his brothers had taken its toil on him...it had tiped him over the edge...dark bat like shapes flaped around him in the night sky ,half whispered voices echoid in his ears .He had feilt it coming and now it was here! The demons were taking him ,twisting his mind until it was a warped ,misshapen thing,if only he could pounded his fists into the concrete around him the city was melting ...he knew it wasn't real ,but he was helpless to stop it .He couldn't hear Splinter's voice above the whirring in his ears ...the rat was trying to tell him something .. What was it? What was it?

Splinter tried again"Its going to be alright my son...what ever we have to face we will face it together!"

Vinny struggled to get the broken words out "I...Am...A Monster!"

Splinter felt cold chills going up his spine ,his heart was a broken ,bleeding thing ...as he looked at his son he felt the crushing weight of all the guilt and shame descend upon him...what ever hapend now ,he felt he disserved it.

"If you're a monster ,I made you into one... It is all my fault my son ,all my fault!"

Vinny suddenly grasped Splinters sore arm and the old rat whenced.

"I can't go on alone!" Vinny didn't seem to see Splinter any more ...His eyes were unfocused... He seemed to be talking to other voices that only he could hear"They won't take me alive!" He said"They won't break up the family! "

"You're not alone my son!"Splinter said

Vinny couldn't hear any more... Vinny was gone!What was standing on the roof with Splinter was what was left behind.

The old rat was unresisting as Vinny puld him over the edge of the roof .They landed with a crash onto a rickety ,rusty scaffolding which swayed treacherously beneith them ...there was the groaning of metal... It was than that Splinter realized that they were both going to die!And he was OK with that . ..there was a peacefulness that came over him...a calm serenity ...he was tired of feeling the torturous guilt he had felt from sending Vinny away ,all this was his fault and he would take responsibility for it ...he spoke from the heart to his son" what ever path you choose my son ...I will go with you...I will follow you into Hell if that that is your path way...!"Vincent stared at him...the calm acceptance of Splinter's voice seemed to reach him...a haze seemed to clear from his eyes ...he blinked"What did you say ?"

The old rat cleared his throat "A father's responsibility is his son,but it is up to you to choose death or life...I will go with you on either journey my son..."

Vinny beganto shake"You would do that for me?!"

"I will do that !"the rat said...his bruised hand reached out to stroke Vinny's arm...the trembling turtle looked at his father's discoloured hand for a moment ,than he seemed to awaken" I ...could never ...hurt you... Father ...I ...love you !" his words were broken

The two stood on the scaffolding for several moments ,a peaceful strengthening bond seemed to grow between them... even the wind began to die down .The storm was dissipating

"I choose life!"

Splinter smiled"Thank you !" he whispered. Vinny wiped a massive arm across his eyes than straightened

"Lets go home ." Splinter said "Its time you meet your brothers."

"We need to get you off of this scafulding ."Vinny said ,his eyes were clear and calm and electrifyingly blue .Splinter felt like he was seeing his son for the very first time .Vinny lifted the old rat carfully and lifted him up to the edge of the roof so that Splinter could easily clime crold over the roof's ledge and terned to peer down at Vinny from the top... he reached his hand down towards Vinny ...it was than that the scaffolding fell !Vinny had time for just one word " Father!" he said and than he was falling and the fox kit that he always kept inside his robes ,whimpered .He was tumbling end over end .He could see the pieces of the scaffolding twisting beneith him like a giant serpentine snack... Air rushed by ...his thoughts were frantic ,chaotic... Pictures from his past flashed ...faces like photographs riffled in an album ...thoughts ...emotions ...feelings... It was like a deck of cards that you throw ...Than there was concrete ,pain and blackness.

Time stopped!

Vinny' p.o.v

I was standing besides my body .I saw my brothers running up to me...I ducked as a piece of metal scaffolding fell ...it almost hit me and went BANG ! as it hit the concrete ..I realized in horror that I was standing over it ...It had gone right through me !My brothers had gathered around ...their faces were blurred by the darkness ...their voices seemed to come through in waves...fragmented words.


	30. Chapter 30

Sunny came running up last ,followed by Mikey "I saw a body fall off the building,is it Splinter?" Sunny panted

Donnie ternd around ,he was holding Vinny's head in his hands "No its Vinny ...He's dead !

"We have to call an ambulance !" Sunny puld out his cellphone and began to dial

"Where's Splinter ?" Mikey shouted ...he was still approaching when Leo stopped him

"Mikey you come with me you don't need to see this."

"Where we going ?" Mikey asked

"We have to go up the building ,I can see Splinter up there moving around."

Donnie looked up at Raph who was standing there frozen ,incapable of rational thought"Raph come here and help me !"

"I can't !"

"Stop it ! Come here and help me ...we have to cover him up ...We can't let Splinter or Mikey see him like this !"

"What are we doin ? Taken his cloak off?"

Donnie said "Yes."

They tenderly tried to work Vinnys cloak from beneith his still form... "His Shell's broken!" Raph said

Raph looked down at his bloody hands" His Shell's broken! "he said again . they saw Vinny's chest move. Forr a moment they both thoght that he was still alive ,but than a ferry face of a fox kit looked out of his vest ." That's why he fell on his shell ..."Donnie said "He wanted to protected the pup ."

Raph carefully removed the fox kit and held it in his arms "What kind of a person dose something like that?"

"A hero !"Donnie said

"He did better than I would have ."

"Me too !" Donnie said

Raph stifling a sob said "that's harsh !"

Donnie whipped his eyes .They had just managed to cover Vinny up in his blood soaked cloak when Leo,Mikey and Splinter could hear the distant wailing of an ambulance.

The people came to put Vinny in the ambulance ."Hey you're the super hero Turtles!" They said as they came rushing up .When they saw Vinny lying on the sidewalk covered in his own blood soaked robe their tone changed..their faces became grave ...one of them respectfully asked" Which turtle is this ?I didn't know there was five..."

"This is Vinny ,our brother..." Donnie replayed

Gently they lifted his body into the gurney and rolled it away. Splinter went with it .The turtles didn't know what to say,so they said nothing.


	31. Chapter 31

I had already tried to return into my body ,but as I would only sink through it and fall down into the sewer tunnel below the street ,I realized that there was no way back into this world I knew.

A strong wind blew around me which tugged at my robes and blew my bandanna about my shoulders ...I was thankful to still be able to feel the breeze...It even cooled the sweat on the back of my neck...

The red lights of the ambulance flashed in the darkness and I watched as my brothers helped the first responders carry my body up from the rubble and lay it on the gurney.I had followed them to the ambulance and as Raph and Donnie stepped aside ,I saw my father standing by my body ...he was holding my hand which had fallen out from under the sheet.

"When its my time to cross over,my son,I know that you will be there to meet me on the other side."there were tear drops dripping down from the old rats whiskers ...Leo puld him away ..Splinter terned and looked at me as I stood there ...His gaze pased right through me but I could tell that he felt something ...

" What is it ?"Leo asked

"Nothing ." the old rat murmured

Leo began to lead him away .

I screamed as loud as I could ,but no one noticed...

Everything seemed to be getting darker.. I realized that I could no longer see the lights of the ambulance...My father was blurring into the distance.. Than I was alone ...the world around me began to change... The street became like sand.I looked down at my feet and saw that they were sinking !the sand was covering them! I didn't know where the sand was coming from ...it totally freaked me out! Now it was up to my knees and I couldn't pull myself out of it ...I WAS SINKING! The sand covered me ...I was falling!

I was in a black cavern ...there was no light. People were walking passed me ,bumping into me ...I tried to say something to one man...he just stumbled on .I couldnt see his face ...it was too dark ...this was bad! This was a bad place! It wasn't supposed to be like this! Where was this place?Where was I ? How did I get to this place? How could I get back? Another person bumped passed me almost nocking me down... I couldn't see in the dark ,I was starting to panic! I couldn't breathe !was the sand rising ?I couldn't tell any more ...Was it filling the whole cavern? I imagined in my mind a waterspout of sand ,high above me poring down ...burying myself and everyone around me ,entombing us forever.

I covered my face with my hands ...there was no pounding of blood in my ears ...there was no breath in my lungs the most terrifying of all was I couldn't hear my heartbeat.I looked up into the void ...I imagined my pupils widening and widening into infinity,trying to catch some glimmer of light... There was nothing.

"Oh God help me!" I cried...there had to be someone who could help me ?There had to be some way out ? I remembered something ...it was almost forgotten ...something I had heard long ago ...what was it?...it was some kind of words ...a song? No a prayer !pictures flashed in my mind ...scenes from my childhood ...before Mikey puld the box onto the tracks...before Japan ...before the dojo...

I heard Splinter's voice in my thoughts "Our Father which are in heaven,Hallowed be thy name,Your kingdom come .Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven .Give us this day our daily bread .And forgive us our trespasses ,As we forgive those who trespass against us. Do not lead us in to temptation ,But deliver us from our enimes .For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever .Amen.

Yeah though I walk through the valy of the shadow of death ,I will fear no evil for You are with me ...Thy rod and thy staff ,they comfort me .Thy prepareith a table before me in the presence of mine enemies .And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen." I hadn't realized that I had spoken the words out loud until everything became still...I could no longer hear the agonized murmurs and murdering of the people around me in the dark .I could not hear their feet shuffling ,or feel their bodys bumping against me as they pushed passed me in the darkness .It was very,very still...That was when I saw the was high above me like a star ,but it was moving... It was coming down to me .As it came closer it seemed to have a form ,and it shone with a radiance. The figure came down until it stood before me ,there was a face and eyes .He spoke to me with a kind voice "Do you know who I am?"

My mind searched frantically through all the gods that I knew but this wasn't any being that I recognized "No ." I said .I didn't have a clue! He reached down and picked me up ,where I had fallen. His presence made me feel ashamed of what I was.I felt my own unworthyness. Mercy was streaming from this being into my body,It gave me the strength to stand.I felt his love for me, his face was full of understanding. He knew me ... I felt He really knew who I was...He knew everything about me...He had even known me before I was born .I realized than ,with a shock ,that I was standing before my God !"Do you know who I am?"

"You are God !You are the only God!" I replied

"Do you know my name ?"there was a touch of hummer in his voice

" No ."I was ashamed .There was a memory that fluttered like a candle in the wind..."Je...sus."I stuttered "Jesus." I said more strongly"Jesus Christ."

Than the voice became more powerful ...It was as powerful as continents colliding! It was as powerful as the birth of the sun ! It was as powerful as the universe expanding! ...limitless! It was infinite!

"I am the Alpha and the Omega ,the Beginning and the End,the First and the Last,I am Immanuel,it means" God with us"I am Yahweh,I am El Shaddai,I am Jesus Christ .There!" He said"Do you want me to take you out of this place?"

I heard something ...I heard a rushing as though it was a rushing wind,I heard something inside my chest...It was my hear beating! I felt the blood pounding in my ears as I said "YES! YES! YES !"

I thought I heard God laugh...I didn't know God could laugh ...he wasn't laughing at me but with me ,for pure joy because he loved me so much .And than everything began to spin and I felt a tug ...A hard tug ...and I awoke... And than ...PAIN!I felt like I had been hit by a forklift. I was shouting"He touched me ! He touched me!"I saw strange faces bending over me. Strange people were shouting. I was in an ambulance. From the open doors I saw Splinters face ,than quickly joined by Donnie ,Leo ,Raph Mikey...than my old friend Sunny .They were all staring at me in disbelief. Someone put an oxygen mask over my face.""He touched me !"I said again louder .an ambulance attendant ,a 40ish man with a kindly face asked"Who touched you?"

"GOD!" I replied

"You were dead!" Donnie yelled ,he was totally amazed

"I want to be touched by God ! why can't God touch me?"

"Shut up Mikey ,do you want to be dead?"Raph yelled

" Well Vinny's alive and He touched him!"

That's why he's alive !" Donnie said "Besides if you want to talk to God all you have to do is pray,Mikey!"

Splinter claimed up into the ambulance " My son !My son!" Is all he could say .The ambulance attendants pushed the others out the back of the vehicle "We have to take this guy to the hospital!"

"But I'm alright ! "I argued" I just have a headache and I feel like I've been hit by a truck."

One of the attendants was whispering "He doesn't have a scratch on him , I never saw anything like it ! His whole shell was cracked open!"

The other attendant said "Shut Up !You didn't see nothin!"

The other man looked at him"I saw it !"

"No you didn't !"

The two continued to argue the whole way to the hospital ...I ignored them.I knew I was alright ,from the look in my father's eyes I knew everything was going to be alright.


	32. Chapter 32

That day I was released from the hospital... My friend Sunny told me that my Master in Japan was still alive after all and he loaned me his IPhone so that I could Skype with Sun Wu...It was good to see him alive and well again.I told him that I was going to live with my family now ,but I told him that I would come to see him again maybe sometime next year.

I am cleared of all charges and now I am home with my brothers and my father back at the lair enjoying a well deserved dinner of cheese pizza and looking at all of their faces and listing to all of their 're questions .We're a family again ,just like I always wanted!

"Man ..What's it like being dead?"Mikey asks

"It's so good to have you back!To have you with us my son!"Splinter says

"He's not getting my room !" Mikey added. It was like I had never left.

The first huge from Leo I'll remember for the rest of my life! There's no anger between us now ,there is only brotherly love.

I know that I said befor that I didn't believe in past lives ,but now that I've been born again ,I'm a true believer! I am a new creature ...The voices in my head are gone and I know that they will never be back again!

There was no neede to wear the Jade pendant that my Master had given for the pain and heart break that I used to feel ,anymore so I put it away and replaced it with a crucifix necklace .I also painted one on my shell.

I am so glad that my fox Kit was saved and Raph keept him safe for me . Sukoshi Kitsune was a true friend!

I don't know what God has in store for me ,but I know that He saved me for a reason...

If you want follow the path as Vinny did ,repeat after me: "Jesus Christ ,I want you to come into my heart and make me a new creature .Forgive me of my sins and save me.I believe that are you are the Son God .Change my life right now ! Amen.

Look forward to reading the next Vinny The Fifth Turtle episode :GENESIS 5. Coming soon

It is EPIC!


	33. Chapter 33

Ok guys, so, sorry for the late updates and everything, been really busy with school and making animated movies. I am an artist and an animator as most of you probably know, if I were to make my stories Red Sun Rising, Subliminal and Genisis 5 into animated movies and opened up crowdfunding sites to help with paying the voice actors and with the production of each movie, would anyone actually donate to them? I don't want to waste my time here, if no one would want to help me out or watch them then I am not going to make them, but they would be epic, they would follow these stories on here with all original artwork, it would be a non profit fanfilm when released. So what do you think? Would you dontate anything to help me make these and would you watch them? Leave a comment if you would like to see these fanfics made into fullout traditional animated movies.


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